CLIMBERS looked on in horror as a female walker plummeted 700ft to her death while walking in Snowdonia.

The woman, named locally as Jillian Cowie, 47, of Llanfairfechan, is thought to have lost her footing in high winds and fallen off a ridge above the Idwal Slabs and Devil’s Kitchen on 3,000ft peak Glyder Fawr.

Two young climbers who were scaling the rock face on Monday evening saw her body fall past them.

Mountain rescuers and a community leader described her death as a tragedy.

The climbers, who were left shaken by the incident, raised the alarm at around 6.30pm and the Ogwen Valley Mountain Rescue Team (MRT) and RAF Valley’s 22 Squadron rescue helicopters raced to the area.

High winds prevented the RAF crew sending down the winchman but they used thermal imaging equipment to locate the body and guide the mountain rescue team to the site.

Ms Cowie’s body was found at around 9.30pm but it took rescuers several hours to stretcher her off the mountain.

Chris Lloyd, from the Ogwen Valley MRT, said: “We understand she was coming down from the summit of Glyder Fawr and she may have become disorientated in the cloud because she should not have been where she was.

“The strong winds may then have knocked her off her feet and led to this tragedy.

“Two young climbers saw the body fall. They raised the alarm and were left very shaken by this.

“Fifteen of the team were on the mountain from 7pm until 2am. They located the lady’s body and took her off the mountain.

Glyder Fawr is the highest summit in the Glyderau mountain range, soaring to 999 metres (3,278 feet). It is the fifth highest mountain in the Snowdonia National Park.